Key Characteristics and Evolution of Generation of ’27 Poetry
Key Characteristics of the Generation of ’27 Poetry
- They tried an aesthetic renovation of poetry, taking the innovations that brought the avant-garde, but without forgetting the importance of the Spanish literary tradition.
- They cared for and renewed the way through the use of religious vocabulary and colloquial terms away from poetry.
- The metaphor became the most important literary resource. This is a very appropriate figure to express the surreal content.
- As for the metric, they used classical verse such as the sonnet, the romance, or the carol, but also innovated with the use of blank verse, free verse, and versicle.
- From the thematic point of view, they gradually developed a humanized poetry, more concerned about pain, joy, and memories. The Civil War emphasized the humane vision of poetry.
Poetic Themes of the Generation of ’27
The poetic themes used by the authors of the Generation of ’27 are, in fact, typical of the lyric, but treated from a cutting-edge perspective:
- The City: The city is the central protagonist of their poems, but it is no longer a simple framework. We have a cutting-edge city, where man is alienated in his relationships with peers and where he suffers loneliness as a conviction under vacuum.
- Nature: Nature does not disappear completely, but it completely changes its sign: it is “objectified” and is linked to a perception of the world that has room for everyday objects. Landscape disappears, and instead, we see a symbolic nature, associated with recollections of childhood.
- Love: Love is also treated in an unusual way. They give the feeling of love a new perspective that has, in turn, its place in the “romantic twentieth century.” They express a waiver of sentimentality and sensitivity, and individual love regains its projection and symbolic meaning. Love becomes, again, a rewarding passion.
- Popular Tradition: They recover the popular theme of tradition, the expression of feeling based on the expression of the people. Typical in this respect are the works of Alberti and Lorca, who will express their Andalusian roots through the introduction to their poems of customs, songs, and popular ballads.
- Commitment: Commitment is another recurring theme among poets of the Generation of ’27. Whether it is a commitment to art or a commitment to man, the lyrics of the Generation of ’27 did not remain indifferent to the demands of their time, responding to what their society demanded.
Stages in the Generation of ’27
First Stage (Until 1929)
Youthful period in which the group was formed as such. It coincided with the splendor of the avant-garde and achieved a balance between modernism and tradition.
Second Stage (1929-1936)
By 1929, authors such as Lorca, Alberti, and Cernuda suffered deep personal crises and found in Surrealism a way to translate their conflicts. The new songs were a poetic re-humanization process. The influence of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda was felt, who claimed an “impure poetry” whose ideal was not beauty but communication.
Third Stage (From 1939)
In 1939, the Generation of ’27 as a group finally disintegrated dramatically. One member, Lorca, had been killed, others had to go into exile, and some remained in Spain.